littlebluemonster

From another perspective, if she didn't play nice, she would cause the Shen family to suffer great losses in their business, and that would only put her in a more difficult position because then they could blame her for it and make her compensate.

At least she was adamant about the divorce with him, just that she wouldn't make it public in the meantime. I think it's a wise choice breaking up with Haoming and his family as peacefully as possible, because you don't wanna get on the Shen family's bad side or she'll just land herself in a bigger predicament.

It's possible it might finish airing early if they drop the last few episodes early. Because if they stick to the 2-episode per day schedule, it's gonna be ending next Saturday anyway.

This is definitely a case of she fell first, but he falls harder. Look at our girl doing her best in life and moving on like a boss despite the heartbreak, while Haoming is already realizing what he's lost and gets shunned not only by Yanyan, but also his own family. The detail with old lady she visits was a nice touch. It was something Xu Yan never personally took credit for and still never told Haoming about it. It shows she's a genuine person and not what Haoming thought she was.

Haoming really doesn't deserve Yanyan. He better make up for what he did big time and more to get Yanyan back. I don't want her to take him back so easily.

But what I really like about Xu Yan and Haoming is that they are both quite alike. Both don't take any bxllshit, and even when they're put in less ideal environments, they don't complain. They just work hard and get the job done. I love how in ep16, we got to see the parallels between them.

Those staff think the bad conditions would drive Haoming away, but they're so wrong. Same goes for Xu Yan, nothing's gonna stop her from doing better and becoming successful. Both their downhill now is just gonna prove how competent both of them are. They are truly a power couple.

Right?? She's got motive and I think she was totally fake crying. Plus, imagine if her sister didn't die, was she just gonna secretly crush on her brother-in-law forever? I don't think so.
She knows Haoming truly loved her sister and it was unlikely for her to come between them unless her sister was dead.

I feel that his father still thinks of him as being inadequate since whenever Haoming suggests something, his father is always skeptical. I was wondering if he'd stab his father in the back, but I think no matter how upset he is with his father, he wouldn't actually harm his family.

You're most welcome!

We've been clowned just like Xu Yan. Lol

But it's also not uncommon for parents to neglect their children that way.

Right? His parents don't even look that old to me and his mother looks like she's in her late forties. So for me, it wasn't unrealistic for Chenchen to be their son because his mom would've only given birth to Chenchen when she was still in her thirties.

Thought the same about ML!! Lol. Like he was so good at drawing the line with Fang Lei at first and I was impressed. Only for me to watch ep12 and was baffled. Then I realized EVERYTHING WAS A LIE. He only acted that way because he knew Xu Yan would be watching.

"But Xu Yan values her dignity more than any career. She's smart, hard working, and talented, she'll get it all back and then some."

Could agree more with this!! I can't wait to see her achieving success once she leaves him.

And yes, I'm really curious to see what breaks him. Because he's always so composed. I hope the reveal will be satisfying and not lukewarm. Because like you said, he's not the type who'd hit rock bottom easily and cave.

He actually showed it from the first episode when he said he had eyes everywhere or something like that. I think part of FL actually sensed something was off, but because ML masked himself really good and played her emotions well like giving her expensive gifts and being exceptionally thoughtful, so it's easy to misjudge (I mean, even I brushed it off thinking he might not be that sketchy, lol). Especially when FL herself is busy making sure her lies stay intact and her cover isn't blown.

Xu Yan is crafty, but compared to Haoming, she's still quite naive. Even when he's shown that he knew who she was since the beginning, she still didn't get suspicious of him because he was "kind" to her. Being in FL's shoes, it's honestly hard to catch on because she lacked so much care and love, and ML just knew exactly how to play his cards to get her.

Both FL and ML are liars but FL's intention was never bad, unlike ML who literally wanted to shape her into his perfect wife and stepmother for his son. And if what FL's sister said was true, that ML was her first love, then the way ML showers her with "love" makes it even harder for her not to fall for him.

And yea, Xu Yan is a strong person and she wouldn't go down so easily. Her life may go downhill after the divorce, but she's gonna be bouncing back stronger than ever. I believe in her! Haoming really underestimated what Xu Yan's capable of in terms of competence and perseverance. And she's got way more dignity, self-worth, and self-respect than he thinks. She won't be anyone's puppet. I really can't wait to see her build herself back up after the divorce.

Basically he orchestrated everything since the moment (or maybe even before) Xu Yan went to his shop to try and get an interview with him. Due to his past mistakes (which isn't clear at the moment, but having a son before getting married is probably one of it), his chances of finding a girl, who's at his social status, and willing to be a stepmother would be hard. That's why he picked Xu Yan because of her background. She'd be easy to manipulate and she'd put up with all the "tests" from his family because she's unlike most rich heiress who would have less to lose and could easily dump him.

So in short, Haoming's plan was to make Xu Yan his perfect wife and give him the perfect man image with a perfect marriage.

I'm up to Ep12 and I think the sister did redeem herself.

====Additional spoilers=======


We got to see that it was mostly the parents' fault for playing favorites during their childhood and FL's sister was actually quite nice to her when they were young.

I've just finished Ep12 and it was a 180 degree from Ep11. The ML's mask is finally shedding and we finally got to see what he's scheming. It makes sense to me now and I can see how he's manipulative. But up until Ep11, he didn't seem manipulative to me, just very controlling. But at the time, it came across as him probably being a very wary person.

I kinda knew Haochen was supposed to be Haoming's son when they were filming the drama, but in the beginning, he was suddenly his brother and I didn't put 2 and 2 together. But without knowing any spoilers, I think the first 11 episodes made their love and relationship quite believable even though it was evident both were hiding something from each other. It was sort of like a Mr. and Mrs. Smith situation for me. But Ep12 flipped it entirely because now we finally get an idea of ML's true intentions while all this time we've only been shown the FL's.

FL is gonna leave him for sure. As desperate as she may be, she really values herself and knows she doesn't deserve that kind of treatment from him. Her career seemed to have gone downhill based on Ep16 teaser, and I feel really bad for her. I hope she gets to come back strong later on before she takes him back.

It wasn't shown yet until the teaser in Ep14. But I've watched it already so yea I know now.

I remember when they were filming this, Haochen was said to be Haoming's son. So I was surprised he turned out to be his brother. Lol. I thought maybe they misled the public while filming. But Haoming mentioned having a son in Ep14's teaser. So now it all makes sense.

Same! The fact that Fang Lei was crushing on her sister's bf....that made me sus of her when she said her sister died of an "accident".

After watching Ep12 and teasers until Ep16, I finally get what ML's plan was!!!! This is getting exciting. How much are they gonna tear each other down moving forward? I hate to see FL losing it all after working so hard for her career. ☹

Honestly enjoying this drama so much! The leads are both complex and grey characters and I love it so much. ML definitely knows what's going on. With how meticulous he is with the background checks, there's no way he didn't know about FL's true background. But I think he really likes her, that's why he indirectly told her to keep lying. I think part of him just wants to keep this "happy" marriage going without acknowledging the truth. Because once the truth is out, his family probably won't accept her and he's gotta face it too. Now he can just continue covering up for her and pretend everything's perfect.

What I really like is that they are secretly doing things behind each others' backs, but it also doesn't look like they'll hurt each other. At least for now, it doesn't look like they'll betray each other. I've only watched until ep11, and I honestly don't get how people are saying ML was being manipulative? Because he never really manipulated FL. He's been secretly helping her get rid of the scums around her. Though I gotta admit it'd be scary for FL to find out he's been keeping tabs on her. But it was also thanks to that, he was able to get rid of Lin Tao and the fraud, otherwise he wouldn't have known and they'll keep harassing her.

I also don't feel that FL had been manipulating ML either. I don't recall her manipulating ML into doing something for her own gain. At most, both of them have been lying to each other, hiding truths from each other. But manipulating? Not quite. Or at least not yet. Neither of them had been deliberately taking advantage of each other. I believe ML actually loves FL too because if he didn't, he wouldn't have bothered doing so much and covering up so much for her. But I really wonder what will break them apart because it can't be as simple as him "finding out" her truth since he most probably already knows her truth.